Steps taken in Massachusetts to combat the deadly toll from heroin addiction – including one pioneered in Quincy – are leading the nation, but they’re only the beginning, a U.S. senator and the White House’s drug czar said Wednesday.

U.S. Sen. Ed Markey, D-Mass., and Michael Botticelli, acting director of the Office of National Drug Control Policy, said Massachusetts is ahead of the curve on fighting what they called a nationwide epidemic.

They spoke at a press conference at Boston Medical Center, flanked by local and national public health experts, police and a recovering addict. Both highlighted the state’s database to track prescriptions of controlled substances and use of the overdose-reversing drug naloxone, also known as Narcan, by first responders. Quincy was the first municipal department in the country to equip officers with the drug in 2010. Other first responders including firefighters in Weymouth and Braintree and police in Stoughton have since followed.

“Massachusetts is at the forefront of this discussion, but the numbers are skyrocketing,” Markey said, referring to the rise in overdose deaths. “Massachusetts is leading the way, but it’s only the beginning.”

Markey said solving the problem will take continued collaboration between state, federal and local officials.

Nationwide, 41,300 people died of drug overdoses in 2011, according to data from the federal Centers for Disease Control and Prevention cited by the Office of National Drug Control Policy. That’s more than the number of deaths from car crashes or gunshot wounds. Of those overdose deaths, nearly 17,000 involved opioid painkillers and about 4,400 involved heroin.

In Quincy, Weymouth and Braintree, 99 people died of drug overdoses in 2009 and 2010, according to a review by The Patriot Ledger. In the following two years, that number increased to 111.

“Massachusetts is not unique in the magnitude” of the problem, said Botticelli, who used to head the Massachusetts Department of Public Health’s Bureau of Substance Abuse Services. “It has been somewhat unique in terms of a holistic response.”

Boston Police Superintendent-in-Chief William Gross said his department has worked with Quincy police to look at equipping officers with naloxone, something he said the department plans to roll out in a matter of weeks.

“It was great to have a neighbor we could learn from,” he said.

Markey, Botticelli and Public Health Commissioner Cheryl Bartlett also touted new legislation Gov. Deval Patrick signed into law later Wednesday that aims to make it easier for addicts to get treatment. The law requires insurers to cover addiction treatment from licensed counselors and up to 14 days of inpatient treatment.

The Massachusetts Association of Health Plans had raised concerns about the bill, saying it could drive up health care costs and would make it impossible for insurers to determine whether that care was medically necessary or in the right setting.

Page 2 of 2 - The bill also includes funding to create 64 beds for in-patient and step-down services, enhance services at existing detox and treatment centers and expand access to naloxone.

Sherri Harrison, 31, a recovering addict from Cambridge, said she hoped the increased treatment options would help others get clean.

“You need a lot (of help) at the beginning. You’re just a different person,” said Harrison, who’s been in recovery for four-and-a-half years. “You don’t realize the danger until something tragic happens.”